Stash Debut (30): Excia AL Blush Impression in PK100

Back in 2008, I reviewed Water Face Color in 100 from Albion Eprise. It was my first purchase from the Eprise range as well as from Albion. Today, I will be sharing my thoughts on Blush Impression in PK100, which is my first purchase from Albion’s Excia AL range.

Excia AL was launched in 2003 and it is one of the main ranges of Albion (which is a subsidiary of Kosé Corporation). Currently, it carries skincare, base makeup and point (color) makeup items and it is Albion’s only point makeup range. (Eprise no longer carries any point makeup item. It now only carries Point Makeup Remover and Enamel Remover.)

(The beauty sector of Elégance is run by Albion Co., Ltd., and its products are available from many Albion counters in department stores in Japan. However, it is generally considered to be a separate brand in Japan.)

The original Excia range was launched in 1990, and the name was coined from the words “extra” and “special”. Excia AL appears to be Excia’s replacement (not its sub-range). (According to the product database from Cosme.net, no new product from Excia was released after Excia AL was launched.)

Albion Excia AL Blush Impression in PK100 (アルビオンエクシア AL ブラッシュインプレッション PK100/ 艾倫比亞妃思雅晨曦牡丹腮紅 PK100, refill ¥4000, case with brush ¥2000) was released in Japan in fall 2007 (when the Blush Impression range was launched in Japan). The five shades in this variations are (from right to left):

cream white, lightly-to-moderately (towards moderately) pigmented, velvety-to-glowy with subtle shimmer
pale pink, lightly-to-moderately pigmented, velvety
medium-depth medium-to-cool pink, moderately pigmented, velvety
medium-to-cool rose pink, moderately pigmented, velvety
medium-to-cool rose, with an above-medium pigmentation level, glowy with subtle shimmer

All the five shades have multi-hued light-reflective particles. They are all easy to apply and blend, and they all have a good staying power.

When the five shades are mixed together, they show up as a medium-to-cool rose-toned pink with a softly glowy finish and subtle shimmer. While I like the tone of the shade, the shade is a little too dark for me. I prefer skipping the medium-to-cool rose and mixing the other four shades. Also, I tend to be light-handed with this palette as most of the shades in this palette are slightly more pigmented than most of the other blushers I have.

The cream white works fairly well on its own as a highlighting shade. However, if it is used slightly heavy-handedly, it can slightly emphasize the appearance of pores.

The dark-brown case for the refill comes with a dark-brown storage pouch.

Overall I like this palette. The application can be slightly time-consuming (I need to make sure the brush picks up all the colors I want in the mix without being overloaded with them), but I generally like the tones and the finishes of the colors.

(Blush Impression was replaced by Noble Color Blush (refill ¥4000, case with brush ¥2000) in fall 2015. Then, in fall 2017, Noble Color Blush was replaced by Complexion Blush (¥6000, refill ¥4000).)